[phoronixrly]

Props to OP for using the term 'superstitions'. Wi-fi (and radio in general) is poorly understood even by people with engineering degrees, let alone the average Joe. This often leads to trying random stuff until an improvement is perceived (or believed to be...), then spreading this experience as proven and applicable in any context with no further research and confirmation of the results (let alone filing bug reports).

The prominence and accessibility (to laymen) of wifi does not help the situation either... I mean what else CAN they do except try stuff out, how are they going to determine that it worked and why it did?...

OP, yes, poorly implemented power saving has in my experience often been a culprit behind network reliability issues. That said, please consider adding a disclaimer that just disabling power saving in client devices without pinpointing the root cause of the instability or at least reporting it is exactly why we are in a situation where it is still buggy.

[pjdesno]

I love the term "superstition". I like to refer to lab "rituals" - if something works, repeat it, and never change things around "because it ought to work just as well". Life is too short to figure out all the unknown variables that might be affecting things, so seize luck when you find it.

[taneq]

I’ve been referring to this kind of belief as a ‘pigeon religion.’ This one time an operator has a problem (it’s an e-stop that hasn’t been reset) and they ‘fixed it’ by switching the system into test mode and back, then pressing the e-stop reset three times. So they tell all their friends.

Next time that doesn’t work (the e-stop button is still pressed in) but someone tries switching the system into test mode and back twice, slamming the control cabinet door, pressing and releasing the e-stop button three times, then pressing the e-stop reset button three times. They report their findings on the new standard procedure…

And so on.

[gblargg]

I caught a friend's mother going through a ritual like this with the dishwasher. She had to press the heat mode or something on the dishwasher four times in a row before starting it (so it toggled it on and off twice). Who knows how this got started, but she was adamant that it had to be done before starting it.

[fc417fc802]

Having a protocol for working with a black box is fine. The problem is how bad a lot of people are at differentiating between superstition, a black box, and a process with a well understood mechanism.

[jalk]

Same as Cargo Cult programming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming

[deskr]

> then spreading this experience as proven and applicable in any context

It's worse. People don't even need to have personal experience to spread misinformation. They just read it online and then spread it like gospel.

Misinformation in the likes of "Wood glue it stronger than wood", "Burning Diesel/Kerosine can't reach temperatures required to melt steel".

[lukevp]

Is wood glue really not stronger than wood?

[deskr]

No. Short summary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR14v3dpH4w

Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnNsE4J-udc